The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1887-10-27


happy like-1 want you 70 tsll me that
| never caused you one sorrow; that, In spite
Of my Ignorance an rough ways, made .
good father to you. never scolded you, did
II An didn't alters love you an tell you
pretty stories, leastwise the best knew howl
| An didn't send you away TO school, SOS to
make lady Of your"
What did Esther answerf What could
she answer2 Womanlike, she said nothing;
womanlike, she bent over and kissed Reu-
ben's lips.
"1fI could only ha' died them" he con-
tinued; 'if could only ha' died when you
was little gal, you'd always have thought
| of me as you knowed me thsn, for little
child, afore it's had fetch of the world, sees
only an feels only the hearts o'folks. Ifrd
| ave died then, my little gal would never ave
knowed how ignorant her father was; she'd
ave remembered only the stories he told 'er,
the Songs he sung, an the pretty shells he
fetched her from the sea-"
"Oh, father p cried Esther. II have al
ways revered and loved you-do not tear my
heart so cruelly!"
Hug close to me, darlin', and let me
stroke your curls," said Reuben, softly. mo
one but you must hear, for want you to
know why Invent away; then you'll think
kindly of me, alters, Esther. / done you
wrong perhaps, but thought you might
| git ashamed of me-that was why I went
| awaye didn't want to have you eddycated,
cause thought that etldycashun was a-goin'
to kind o wean you from me, an my heart
was, oh SO hungry arter your love! When
you went away, l was lonesome an every
thing was changed like. There was no one
to love then, nothin but the Of boat no one
to tell stories to, no little one tocome runnin
down the sand to meet me, no curls to stroke
But they said it was my duty and 30 I tried
to stan it. You came back; you was get
! tin to be lady; you was gettin' to be
more'n fisherman's aughter-leastwise l
thought so, an Caleb said it. Says he to me
one day: Reuben, you're eddycatin' that
gal away from you-look out, old man, or
your child'll drift away = Allus after that
ghost KEEP follerin' me round, and the ghost
KEEP allus a awhisperin', She's driftin' away,
she's driftin' away You was allus gentle
an lovin', Essie (mind ye, I'm not COM
plainin'-Tm only tellin' you how foolish
was), but allus that ghost KEEP follerin' me
round and allus the ghost KEEP whlsperin'
She's driftin' away, she's driftin' away r"
"Oh, father!' groaned Esther, in an agony
Of filial love and sorrow.
can when you told me of your sweet
heart" said Reuben, II was struck with a
terror wuss' n all that came afore. thought
you had sot your love on him, and that
when he learnt what ignorant man your
father was-why, l thought he'd cast you
| off an break your gentle heart
"Then suddint like" he continued, "this
thought come to me: Spare your darlin's
heart even though it breaks your own
was an or man, with only few years to
live, at least; what was to hender my goin'
away and bein' dead, SO long as my child
with love in herinnocent heart) was happy?
The ghost kept follerin' me still, and what
he said now was: Go away, 60 away, OIL
Reuben, and spare your darlin's hearth
$50 went away-not leavin' you in want
as the little reck' min in the bank showed
you-but went away breakin' my heart for
yourn."
Esther said never word; the old man
liked it better so, for his heart had borne this
burthen too long.
"Then," he went on to say, II told that
lie about my bein' dead; the mate helped me
with it, for he knowed an pitied me. 1t was
lie, Esther, but it was a white lie, an God
knows what it cost me. There hain't been
an hour sence left the or home on the
beach but what thought of it and you-of
you, my little gal, allus first. No matter
where I sailed or drifted, saw allus that
under the honeysucKle-you rememberw
stood my darlin' shadin' her eyes with her
hands an lookin' out on the sea, like she
was lookin' for me to come. And with the
worritin, an frettin' like. l broke down.
ny@ A,.~t ~s~A
dintly, an so-and 50. came here"
The old man talked thus till from sheer
fatigue he could say no more. He told her of
everything-of his wandering, of his want,
of his heartache, of all how one day he
then M s ho tSs sSs
was happy consoled him in his loneliness.
1t was a time of sweetness-this COM
munion of the old man with his child: And
when he was a-weary, Reuben said: "Sit
down beside me, darlin', and let my hand
go to sleep so an dream"
How quiet the chamber was la strange
peace brOOded therein. Esther sat close be-
side her father and his hand rested upon her
fair head. She could hear the sea splashing
came the sound of creaking sails and of
mems voices. What wonder that she thought
herself little girl again, back in the old
years and in the old home; and she seemed
TO stand with old Reuben in the doorway
| under the honeysuckle; old Reuben's honest
face looked down smilingly upon her, and
his voice was full of the heartiness of love as
he told his darling his quaint stories Of the
| sea.
And Reuben-how calm he sleptl Every
vestige of sorrow had vanished from his
thin, wan face. The old man must have
been dreaming of those old days, too; but he
| lay motionless as the waters OF becalmed
sea, and his hand rested heavily on Esther's
head.
| "Father," she murmured, tremulously, as
she came back from her dream but the old
man did not awake. She sought to remove
his hand and clasp it in her own, but his arm
| fell limp and heavy.
she comprehended it all but the old man
did not hear his darling's voice. Reuben
was dead.
| BARON ROTHsCHILD's EXPULSION.
| How and Why the Great Money Prince
Left Austria.
According to the Cologne Tolkseitung,